Forest Flair steamrolls opposition
Forest Flair was a giant among the pygmies in the Gr 3 Deccan Chronicle Juvenile Sprinters Million, the feature event of Sunday’s races but the fact that gold and brown brigade had been firing only blanks these days was the reason why there was less confidence on this achiever from Mumbai. However, Forest Flair proved an exception to the rule as he romped home in great style, leaving the opposition flat footed. Six Shooter who disputed favoritism with Forest Flair, did not live up to the hype and was even nosed out for the runner up spot by Scubario, the low profile challenger from Hyderabad.
Forest Flair had finished second to Mumbai’s highest rated three-year old Versaki on two occasions and then gone on to win the Breeders’ Produce Stakes. He had run a fair race in the company of good horses earlier in the season over seven furlongs where despite conceding weight to some good type of horses, he was in contention till the final furlong of the race. The fact that he skipped the Colts Trial Stakes had left many wondering whether there was something amiss with this talented son of Placerville. Forest Flair showed out in the paddock parade and justified his looks, sorting out the pretenders with the effortless ease of a champion.
Forest Flair and Six Shooter had their supporters in equal measure. Reaping Reward took over the job of the pace setter as the six horse field set out for the six furlong race, with Six Shooter in close attendance ahead of Forest Flair who was travelling well within himself. The other three runner were spaced out behind, with Scubario bringing up the rear.
Rounding the final turn, Reaping Reward weakened and Six Shooter did not show the anticipated burst of speed. Forest Flair devoured ground in a trice and swept past the opposition with disdain to win pulling up by a widening margin of seven lengths. While Reaping Reward packed up too quickly for comfort, Six Shooter held on to the runner up spot before losing steam in the final stride of the race allowing Scubario to snatch that spot. Speed seems to be the forte of Forest Flair who is sure to win more races if confined to this distance.
Arjun Mangalorkar trained Conceptual completed a hat-trick of wins with a late flourish to down the colours of front-running Corbett. Acridian was expected to repeat and was backed to the exclusion of his rivals with some support for Corbett while Conceptual was allowed to run at nourishing odds. Though Acridian travelled prominently in front, he failed to quicken at the all important end and Corbett who was always handily placed had things his way. Conceptual who was toiling at the wrong end of the field, found steam on the wide outside and finished powerfully to win comfortably from the front runner in the shadow of the post. Last start winner Sunny Gold who was prominent till the final turn, packed up and finished miserably.
The R S Nagendra Kumar Memorial Trophy, a sprint race for horses rated 40 to 65, also saw Join The Party carry his form to an impressive win. Lunar Lust was backed down from a higher quote to deliver the goods while Music Forever and Perfect Analysis were the others considered to be in serious contention. Lunar Lust ran prominently till the final bend and abruptly packed up to finish a poor last. Join The Party led all the way and then skipped away from the rest to win by a widening margin of six lengths in an excellent timing of one minute 13. 7 seconds. This was fractionally slower than that clocked by Forest Flair.
Cielo Rey, who enjoyed the hype and was considered one of the best three-year olds at this centre, has fallen from grace. While his defeat in the graded race could be attributed to the fact that he played up at the start, broke through the gate and was not his normal self. This time he was running in a handicap race and was backed strongly to win. However, Cielo Rey performed disappointingly, loosing steam well before the final turn and was a beaten cause long before the race came on the boil. Prasanna Kumar’s Spark of Reverence, who was backed down spiritedly, led all the way and then staved off the spirited bid of Oban to land the spoils at nourishing odds. Duke of Windsor was a long way third.
Virtuoso burst into a runaway lead in the Tippu Sultan Cup (Div I) and shaped to win but slackened inside the final 100 metres and second favourite Brigade’s Passion quickly covered up the leeway and won comfortably. The momentum failed to take Virtuoso even to the second spot as Apollinaire pipped him to the second spot. The upper division of the race was won by Time Flies who brooked no opposition and won was as he pleased against a modest lot of three-year olds, with Best Time being the best of the beaten brigade.
Track Wonder pulled off a thrilling win over New Pastures in the 1800 metres Nad Al Sheba Plate, a race for horses rated in the lowest category. Track Wonder led all the way but was overhauled by New Pastures in the final furlong. However, the latter drifted out which enabled the front-runner to gain useful lead. By the time, apprentice jockey Parmar corrected the drift and brought the horse with a re-run, the front-runner had reached the safety of the post as New Pastures just about failed to win by a whisker.
Trainer Nosher Cama saddled his third winner of the season when Semper Eadem made all the running in front and went clear of Amazer who was left with a hopeless job of covering too much of leeway. The front runner won pulling up.
Forest Flair had finished second to Mumbai’s highest rated three-year old Versaki on two occasions and then gone on to win the Breeders’ Produce Stakes. He had run a fair race in the company of good horses earlier in the season over seven furlongs where despite conceding weight to some good type of horses, he was in contention till the final furlong of the race. The fact that he skipped the Colts Trial Stakes had left many wondering whether there was something amiss with this talented son of Placerville. Forest Flair showed out in the paddock parade and justified his looks, sorting out the pretenders with the effortless ease of a champion.
Forest Flair and Six Shooter had their supporters in equal measure. Reaping Reward took over the job of the pace setter as the six horse field set out for the six furlong race, with Six Shooter in close attendance ahead of Forest Flair who was travelling well within himself. The other three runner were spaced out behind, with Scubario bringing up the rear.
Rounding the final turn, Reaping Reward weakened and Six Shooter did not show the anticipated burst of speed. Forest Flair devoured ground in a trice and swept past the opposition with disdain to win pulling up by a widening margin of seven lengths. While Reaping Reward packed up too quickly for comfort, Six Shooter held on to the runner up spot before losing steam in the final stride of the race allowing Scubario to snatch that spot. Speed seems to be the forte of Forest Flair who is sure to win more races if confined to this distance.
Arjun Mangalorkar trained Conceptual completed a hat-trick of wins with a late flourish to down the colours of front-running Corbett. Acridian was expected to repeat and was backed to the exclusion of his rivals with some support for Corbett while Conceptual was allowed to run at nourishing odds. Though Acridian travelled prominently in front, he failed to quicken at the all important end and Corbett who was always handily placed had things his way. Conceptual who was toiling at the wrong end of the field, found steam on the wide outside and finished powerfully to win comfortably from the front runner in the shadow of the post. Last start winner Sunny Gold who was prominent till the final turn, packed up and finished miserably.
The R S Nagendra Kumar Memorial Trophy, a sprint race for horses rated 40 to 65, also saw Join The Party carry his form to an impressive win. Lunar Lust was backed down from a higher quote to deliver the goods while Music Forever and Perfect Analysis were the others considered to be in serious contention. Lunar Lust ran prominently till the final bend and abruptly packed up to finish a poor last. Join The Party led all the way and then skipped away from the rest to win by a widening margin of six lengths in an excellent timing of one minute 13. 7 seconds. This was fractionally slower than that clocked by Forest Flair.
Cielo Rey, who enjoyed the hype and was considered one of the best three-year olds at this centre, has fallen from grace. While his defeat in the graded race could be attributed to the fact that he played up at the start, broke through the gate and was not his normal self. This time he was running in a handicap race and was backed strongly to win. However, Cielo Rey performed disappointingly, loosing steam well before the final turn and was a beaten cause long before the race came on the boil. Prasanna Kumar’s Spark of Reverence, who was backed down spiritedly, led all the way and then staved off the spirited bid of Oban to land the spoils at nourishing odds. Duke of Windsor was a long way third.
Virtuoso burst into a runaway lead in the Tippu Sultan Cup (Div I) and shaped to win but slackened inside the final 100 metres and second favourite Brigade’s Passion quickly covered up the leeway and won comfortably. The momentum failed to take Virtuoso even to the second spot as Apollinaire pipped him to the second spot. The upper division of the race was won by Time Flies who brooked no opposition and won was as he pleased against a modest lot of three-year olds, with Best Time being the best of the beaten brigade.
Track Wonder pulled off a thrilling win over New Pastures in the 1800 metres Nad Al Sheba Plate, a race for horses rated in the lowest category. Track Wonder led all the way but was overhauled by New Pastures in the final furlong. However, the latter drifted out which enabled the front-runner to gain useful lead. By the time, apprentice jockey Parmar corrected the drift and brought the horse with a re-run, the front-runner had reached the safety of the post as New Pastures just about failed to win by a whisker.
Trainer Nosher Cama saddled his third winner of the season when Semper Eadem made all the running in front and went clear of Amazer who was left with a hopeless job of covering too much of leeway. The front runner won pulling up.
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